(Re) Meeting Dak Prescott

Re-Meeting My Mom

Somehow after knowing my family for the entirety of his childhood and even his teen years, Dak still found a way to be nervous about meeting my family. The first problem was what would he wear. God I love this man but please help him know when I'm joking!

"Dak, I was just kidding around about the no holes thing. It doesn't matter what you wear. Mom'll love you anyway." "Um I don't want them to love me anyway. See your family knows me as your friend and the athlete and the neighborhood boy but they don't know Dak the boyfriend. And if they're anything like you then they'll be skeptical about my intentions so Imma grab a blazer and loafers and maybe a tie. Oooh maybe your mom would like flowers. Do you think we have time to stop for flowers?" "No" "No to what - the blazer,the shoes, the tie, the flowers?" "All the above." Finally I got this grown man to settle on a simple casual look of dark wash jeans and a navy Cowboys shirt... and his loafers to "jazz it up" he said. Then off we were to go see my mom at the nearby hotel she was staying at.

Dak's worries were all put to bed when my mom embraced him (even before me!). First came the questions from my mom about how he's treating me and what his intentions are. "Well Ma'am. Me and Ash have known each other since we were young and we have loved each other since were teenagers. I plan on treating her right - that is if she lets me and doesn't disappear on me again", he said glaring at me. Then my mom also glared at me, causing me to shift in my seat and avert her gaze. We were barely just dating and I was getting double teamed and double glared already. "Don't you go on avoiding this man. You know he's a good, honest man and you guys have a good shot at making this work for forever if y'all want it." "Okay momma, I won't! But the real reason I came here today was to apologize for how I ran you off the phone and..."

What I should've known in my 20- plus years of existence was that I was rarely -if ever- gonna be able to get a sentence in edgewise around my family. My momma cut me off with a wave of her hand gesturing at Dak who was biting his lip and glancing at us both. No one new my mom like me. That flip of her hand meant I was skating in thin ice but not drowning just yet. A few more calls and visits back home and I'd be back in her good graces.  Out of nowhere Dak started shifting awkwardly. "Ash, I'm sorry. I gotta get to practice and take you back home." My mom embraced me and threw a wink at Dak. "Take care of my baby." "I will."

The drive back was much longer and Dak and I found ourselves stuck in bad traffic. We moved like glaciers before stalling any movement at all and Dak resigned himself to turning off his car since we weren't making any progress. It seemed like the more we sat, the more we began to rebel against our usual mix of love and infatuation. The first problem was it was too much AC. Then it was the bad music playing on the aux and then Dak finally admitted the real problem. I had made him late by insisting he come with me to talk with my mom. I could tell he was restraining his true anger by the blue vein giving way on his forehead.

"Just say it then. You don't wanna be with me. You didn't wanna come today to see my mom. If Jerry called, you'd run and jump but me - me, well I'm just an option. I can't control the traffic Dak and even though I wanted you to come I didn't hold a gun up to your head and force you to drive us here." He went to speak, "Ash I'm just frustrated. I can't be late for practice. It's my first year. I'm a backup's backup, hardly worth anything. The least I can do is be on time."

I got so angry I couldn't talk. I wouldn't stand for being blamed or for him looking down on where he was in life, knowing the eyes stacked against him. So I gave him the silent treatment as we drove back, partially because of my anger and partially because I didn't know what else to say. When we finally got there, just barely in the nick of time. We both just tried to word vomit apologies but we wound up talking over each other, rambling and nodding an affirmation to each other. We'd be ok - at least in a little while once the anger subsided. But that wasn't likely on my side.